


Counting Cars

by Mouse9



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, I COULDN'T HELP IT, a bit of fluff too, mentions of Martin, slight Cabin Pressure merging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 11:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10695747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mouse9/pseuds/Mouse9
Summary: While on a car ride to Thirsk, Molly inadvertently teaches them a new driving game.





	Counting Cars

The case promised to be an eleven.

Sherlock was almost out of his mind with giddiness if this were true; he’d been running around the flat prior to them leaving like a child at Christmas.  Not only did John have to find someone to watch Rosie for the week, he couldn’t even beg her godmother to help out because Sherlock insisted that for a potential eleven, he needed a pathologist he could trust instead of the obviously inept one they had in the township they were heading to. 

John figured it might have been less that he needed a trusted pathologist-although Molly’s understanding of death would possibly work in their favour- and more that the detective just refused to be without his pathologist for a week.  He was still going through what John teasingly thought of as ‘puberty’.

 

So here they were, in a car, driving to some small town called Thirsk where they were expected to remain for- knowing Sherlock Holmes- at least a couple of days before the case was solved.  John was driving, and the first hour was filled with John muttering about why they couldn’t have just taken the train and Sherlock insisting they needed to drive because of very important reasons and  “if you couldn’t see why we needed to drive then obviously you’re sleep deprived and I need to drive.”  A suggestion that both Molly- in the back seat- and John unanimously shot down.

Hour two was quiet; John driving, Sherlock happily in his mind palace and Molly looking out the window at the scenery.   It wasn’t until halfway through hour two that the silence was broken. 

“Yellow car.”

The words were so soft that John thought he’d just imagined them at first.  But a quick glance at Sherlock, who’d opened his eyes and was now half turned around in his seat to look at Molly confirmed that he had indeed hear her say something.

“What?”

Molly glanced from her view of the countryside to Sherlock, looking confused. 

“What?”  
“You just said yellow car.”

“Did I?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You most certainly did.”

“I heard it too.”  John added in his support, glancing at the woman in back through the rearview mirror.  She looked a bit chagrinned and shrugged. 

“Sorry about that.”

Sherlock brushed away her apology. “Yes, yes, but why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you say yellow car?  Molly, do keep up.”

“Because there was a yellow car.  Yellow car.”

John glanced back and sure enough, a small yellow car had just passed them on the other side of the road.

“You did it again.”  Sherlock pointed out, more than a little frustrated.  Molly giggled.

“It’s just a silly game.”

Now John was intrigued.  He was bored with the silence in the car as they drove to their destination. 

“What kind of game?”

"Just one of those little ones you play whenever you’re travelling or about.”  Molly explained.  “Basically, when you see a yellow car you say yellow car.”

“That is the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of.”  Sherlock scoffed. 

“Nobody asked you to play.”  Molly shot back.  John stifled a snicker. 

“What about trucks?” he asked.  She looked back to him, their eyes meeting in the rearview mirror. 

“A truck isn’t really a car, now is it.  The game is when you see a yellow car, you say yellow car.”

“So whomever gets the most points at the end of the trip wins?”  John asked.  Sherlock had turned back ‘round in his seat and was pointedly ignoring them both. 

“No.  The game never ends.”

“What, no it’s got to end at some point.”

“Nope.  You’re always playing yellow car.”

“Right, now I’m curious.  Where did you learn this game from?”

“Lord, um…a friend of mine from childhood, Tilly.  She was so posh, one of those country club girls.  Anyway, one summer before I graduated she invited me to spend the summer with her family.  I spent my entire summer at this resort; horseback riding, swimming, pretending I was much more posh than I actually was.  We were about nineteen and Tilly was going through a rebellious streak, started dating this bloke named Arthur.  Kind of dull but an absolute darling.  My job was to play go between for Tilly; when her parents were around, I hung around Arthur and when Tilly wanted her bit, my job was to distract her parents.  Lasted almost the entire summer before she got bored with him and went off to find richer pastures.  But in those summer months Arthur and I got to be good friends.  He’s the one who taught me yellow car.   Tilly ended up marrying a barrister and lives in a huge home with her three kids, I don’t really see much of her anymore.  But I’ll see Arthur every now and then, or he’ll drop me a text every once in a while with stories of his adventures.”

“Adventures?”  Now that John had gotten into some sort of conversation, he didn’t want to go back to the silence in the car. 

“His mum owns a charter jet.  He works on it so he ends up with some of the most amusing stories.  I dated one of his friends once, a pilot, back during…well,” she glanced towards Sherlock, who was still ignoring them both.  “Anyway, it was just a couple of dates, we were both the most awkward people so it didn’t really work out.  He was a dear but…I always felt as if there should’ve been something more with him.”  She frowned for a moment, silent before she shrugged.  “Last I heard from Arthur he was happily settled in a new job with a Princess for a fiancé.  Guess he traded up.”

John winced.  “Molly, I hard-“

“Yellow car.”

Both Molly and John turned to look at Sherlock.  The car wobbled over into the next lane before John jerked the car back into their proper lane.

“Did you just-“

“Trading up is a preposterous statement.”  Sherlock suddenly said, interrupting John.  He turned back around in his seat to look at Molly, who had a slight grin on her face.  “One cannot trade up, there’s no one person who has all the ideals attractive to every person. Every person is inherently flawed.”

John nodded in agreement.  But Molly was not to be deterred with pretty words. 

“Are you playing yellow car?”

He sniffed, turned back around in his seat.  “I merely saw a yellow car.”

Molly clapped in delight.  She leaned forward, dropping a kiss by his ear. 

“I love you.”

He merely hummed in agreement, pulling the hand that was resting on his shoulder to his lips and kissing it before letting it go. 

John shook his head at the two and checked the time. 

“About forty-five minutes left.”

“Good because I’m getting bored.”

“Well we can’t have that, now can we?”

Molly sat back in her seat and pulled out her phone. 

 

**Got 2 more people playing yellow car! –Mx**

It wasn’t until later that night when Molly was in her hotel room, changing into her night clothes and waiting for Sherlock and John to come back from wherever they’d disappeared to that she heard her phone chime with a response. 

 

**Brilliant! -AS**

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry! Sorry, I can't help it anymore. These fully ridiculous one-shots are just coming out of nowhere, usually while I'm driving.


End file.
